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I've got one of those in my tank. He's awesome. And i would never think about giving him up or putting him back in the wild. he'd never be able to hold his own or fend for himself. But he's a slow grower in my tank and is about 8" or so. very active at night.

"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."

No one ever seems to freak out about the opposite - introducing disease from aquariums to the wild. Think about it people... the thousands of wild fish are in need of protection too - not just the few pet fish in a tiny tank. Let's use our heads.

As far as I am aware, releasing fish into the wild has neither been condoned nor advised here.

<-- Click for journals"There is no right way to do the wrong thing." - KingFisher "Only bad things happen fast in this hobby" - Cliff

Yeah. After re-reading my post it sounds a bit harsher than it did in my head. I hope my tone is not offensive.

It just hit me how so many members jump on others about bringing home wild fish and worrying about transmission of pathogens, but no one seems to care if a member says they'll just go through a fish back into the wild.

Smokey, how long have you had your bullhead? I have two snail bullheads right now (had them for a hair over a year), and they have only grown from 2'' to about 4''. I didn't know if you knew the growth rate on your guy.

It's amazing how so many people freak out when you bring a wild fish into an aquarium - everyone worries about introducing disease and parasites to their pet fish. No one ever seems to freak out about the opposite - introducing disease from aquariums to the wild. Think about it people... the thousands of wild fish are in need of protection too - not just the few pet fish in a tiny tank. Let's use our heads.

Native fish are fun. I love my tropical tank, but I miss my old native set up. Just watching them eat (zip, zip, zip, BAM! Zip, zip, zip...) was worth the price of admission. Alas, the native setup did not ultimately pass the wife's Living Room Aesthetics Test (I'm sure some of you will understand).

Anyway, I always wanted to try a bullhead, since they don't get very big. I always had good luck with channel cats when I was a youngster, except for two things: They are extremely predatory, and they WILL outgrow any reasonable sized tank. If only I had room and money for one of those multi-thousand gallon Cabelas style setups...

Smokey, are you in Wyoming? I kept native wyo fish for years, and as long as you stick with the non-game varieties, you can buy a minnow permit and make it all nice and legal (found this out from a game warden who didn't take it kindly when I told him I had channel cats in my aquarium). There are ways to keep game fish legally too, but I'm not sure what they are--check with your local fisheries biologist. Probably not worth the hassle, when there are so many truly beautiful and fascinating non-game species. Shiners, plains minnows, long-nose dace, and darters are all interesting, nice to look at, and can all do well in a well-aerated cool-water aquarium. There are no doubt lots of others I don't know about, too.

Bullheads are classed as a game fish in Wyo, so keeping them isn't legal if you're worried about such things.

I agree, though, about releasing a fish back into the wild. Not a good idea for lots of reasons. I'd say either keep it, fry it up, of use it as fertilizer.